merge its functions into the office of the County Clerk. In the November 2016 general election, voters overwhelmingly approved the ballot referendum, and the two offices will be merged by 2020. This historic legislation was the first of its kind in Cook County in over 40 years. City/County collaboration - Fritchey was selected to serve on a city/county joint-collaboration committee assembled by Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Board President Toni Preckwinkle, created to increase government efficiency. After analyzing and reporting on duplicative spending, the committee paved the way for collaborations between the two governments that have secured almost $70 million in savings. Parental Leave Reform - Fritchey's legislation to update the county's parental leave policy allows new mothers and fathers to claim disability in order to receive paid parental leave, enabling them to focus on the needs of their families. Fritchey fought to provide paid parental leave for county employees and thought the current policy was an antiquated notion and was not one that was aligned with where policy setters wanted to be, where employers should strive to be, and did not support the nature of attracting and retaining qualified employees. Government transparency - As chairman of the board's Technology and Innovation Committee, Fritchey passed a major initiative to bring meaningful transparency reforms to Cook County. The Open Cook County Plan is aimed at making county government data and information publicly available so residents can more effectively understand, interact with and improve government. Commonsense marijuana policies - During his tenure in the Legislature, Fritchey co-sponsored the bill that created Illinois' recently enacted medical cannabis programs. Fritchey led the successful call for the City of Chicago to enact an ordinance allowing Chicago police officers to issue tickets for possession of small amounts of marijuana rather than arresting offenders. In 2017, Fritchey drafted and passed legislation placing a referendum on the ballot to allow voters to weigh in on the legalization of recreational use of cannabis in Illinois. The measure received the support of 63% of voters. Animal welfare - A tireless animal rights advocate, Fritchey wrote and introduced the ordinance that bans retail sales of puppy mill dogs, ordered an audit of the Cook County Animal Care & Control department and passed legislation that created a countywide Animal Abuse Registry. Fritchey left the office upon the swearing-in of his successor, attorney and successful 2018 Democratic primary challenger Bridget Degnen. References 1964 births